Explore the Process of our Eagle Rare Bourbon Barrel-Aged Coffee
If you're a whiskey and coffee lover, you might recall back in 2020 when we teamed up with the Topeka Whiskey Society (TWS) to create a special bourbon barrel-aged coffee that was available exclusively at our cafes.
A lot goes into creating a well-rounded bourbon barrel-aged coffee, and we learned so much throughout the process. Plus, y'all loved it! So when TWS reached out to us about collaborating again, this time with an Eagle Rare 10-Year Kentucky Straight Bourbon barrel, we jumped at the opportunity!
The first step to any barrel-aged coffee collab? Getting our hands on a used barrel!
It was an exciting mid-July day when TWS’ John Day stopped by to deliver the empty Eagle Rare Bourbon barrel to our roasting facility. Our head roaster, Mike Mazulo, helped him carry it into our warehouse for safekeeping. While John was there, they discussed potential options for how to go about easily getting the coffee into and out of the barrel, as utilizing the traditional bunghole on the barrel proved to be a challenge during our first collaboration.
This time, we aimed to streamline our approach. Having tackled this before, Mike and Matthew Yoakum, our production roaster, had the opportunity to devise smart solutions to the obstacles that had previously slowed us down.
One such solution was cutting a new hole in the side of the barrel. This proved tricky since the barrel was quite thick! Mike and Matt started by drilling a hole into the underside of the empty barrel to prevent any extra dust or sediments from falling inside. Then, they raised the barrel onto its side to complete the cut, making sure to keep the barrel free of any debris.
Moving a heavy bourbon barrel—they're heavy even when empty!—full of coffee beans had also proven to be quite a challenge in the past. Thankfully, Matt came up with the brilliant idea to use four caster wheels to easily roll the barrel throughout the aging process.
Agitating the barrel (rolling it about 10 to 15 times) daily helped ensure that all the coffee beans ended up with a consistent moisture content. We measured the moisture content of the beans throughout the whole barrel-aging process, tracking it closely to ensure consistent roasts.
You might be asking yourself, “But how did you decide what coffee to put in the barrel?” Well, we left that up to TWS members John, Jarrod, Ben, and Keith, who visited our warehouse to help taste and select a coffee for barrel-aging!
Mike explained cupping etiquette—from dry fragrance to finally tasting the coffee. This cupping experience was unique, as TWS even brought along a bottle of the Eagle Rare 10-Year Kentucky Straight Bourbon to taste alongside the four different coffees to help get a clearer picture as to how the bourbon would complement each single-origin coffee.
TWS members got a chance to look over the Coffee Taster’s Flavor Wheel to help identify prevalent notes in the coffees on the table. Whiskey tasting is similar to coffee cupping, and it was exciting to share the processes with one another! After much deliberation, the group landed on Finca El Socorro's Red Bourbon Washed, a Direct Trade coffee from Guatemala.
With a coffee decided upon, it was time to start barrel-aging! For the first development roast, 16lbs of coffee was added to the barrel and allowed to age for 7 days prior to roasting.
Then it was time for a second cupping, this time with John and his daughter Olivia! With two different roast profiles to choose from, they got straight to work, noting what they enjoyed about each roast. In the end, they landed on the smooth and sweet light roast option for this coffee.
When it comes to bourbon barrel-aging coffee, achieving the perfect balance to highlight both the bourbon flavor and the characteristics of quality coffee can be challenging. Often, roasters keep the moisture content too high, necessitating immediate roasting after removing the coffee from the barrel to prevent molding. Consequently, there is a tendency to roast quickly at high temperatures, making it difficult to eliminate some of the overpowering bourbon notes.
Check out the coloration of this Red Bourbon coffee in different stages: From left, prior to going into the bourbon barrel, after being in the barrel-aged for seven days, and then after drying in the roaster for two hours.
With all this in mind, Mike and Matt developed a meticulous barrel-aging process to ensure the best results:
- Green coffee is added to the empty Eagle Rare barrel and sealed. This is done in batches of 35lbs at 11.6% moisture content.
- The barrel is agitated at least once per day for a week, aging in a 75º warehouse at 52% humidity.
- After seven days in the barrel, the coffee is removed weighing 37 pounds at 14.1% moisture content.
- The coffee is sealed in a bag and rested to homogenize to 13.7% moisture content.
- Next, the coffee is dried prior to roasting. It spends 2 hours in the roaster at 95º-105º with full airflow, bringing the moisture content down to 12.2%. This "low and slow" approach avoids losing organic matter in the coffee and stripping out volatile compounds from the bourbon itself.
- Finally... into the roaster! At a light roast, the barrel-aged coffee is smooth and sweet with notes of dark chocolate, cherry, marzipan, and bourbon.
We thoroughly enjoyed collaborating with the TWS on this coffee and look forward to hearing your thoughts about it. Happy sipping!